


Sweet

by legendofthesevenstars



Category: Tenkuu no Escaflowne | The Vision of Escaflowne
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-10-28 14:58:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17789531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/legendofthesevenstars/pseuds/legendofthesevenstars
Summary: Sometimes the smallest things can bring back the fondest memories. Sometimes a simple yet selfless gesture makes you fall even deeper for someone.Marlene, her loves, and the power of surprise cookies and tea.





	Sweet

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Valentine's Day!

“What is all this?” Allen asked, wide-eyed. He had come to the garden at Marlene’s villa at the usual time after his watch ended, expecting to see her sitting on the bench in front of the fountain. But here she had set up a short folding table in front of their usual seat, with two teacups and saucers, a teapot, and a small plate of thin lattice cookies.

“I just wanted to do something special today,” she said, smiling. “Come, sit here, Allen. Let’s have tea.”

He sat down next to her. “You didn’t have to do this for me.”

She poured tea in his cup, then offered him the bowl of sugar cubes.

He shook his head. “No, thank you.” He watched her pour her tea and drop two cubes in her cup. Then he took a sip, wincing at the strong flavor. It tasted and smelled so familiar.

“This is…”

_Sitting on the floor across from Balgus in the light of the woodland sunset from outside, his legs crossed, an open book in his lap, he lifted the tea to his mouth and drank. It always soothed him, warmed him to his core, earthy spices mingling on his palate._

“This is from Fanelia,” he said, breathlessly, looking at her.

She smiled. “I found it at the bazaar a couple weeks ago, and I was saving it for you.”

His chest felt oddly tight. He couldn’t start crying in front of Princess Marlene. That would be so improper, not to mention embarrassing. Instead, he picked up a cookie and bit into it. It was crispy and buttery.

“This is delicious,” he said, once his mouth wasn’t full of food.

She reached for one of the cookies and dipped its edge in her tea. “Aren’t they splendid? My handmaiden and I worked together on these. They’re lace cookies.” There was a crunch as she bit into the cookie. She giggled a little, and when she was done chewing, she said, “That one was a little bit overdone.” She was so gorgeous whenever she laughed.

“You made these?”

“Of course I did. A princess doesn’t just sit around and read books all the time. You know that!”

“Yes, I do know that. But I had no idea you cooked anything. You always surprise me.” _You’re amazing_ , was how he would finish that thought, but was still too shy to say.

“Well, did you like this surprise?” She gestured to the table.

Allen smiled. “Yes, this was a very pleasant surprise, Princess Marlene.”

—

It had been two months since Marlene had come to Freid. Even as someone who had been in the public eye her whole life, all the appearances were beginning to wear her out. When the Duke wanted to sit and talk with her in the evenings, she had to decline because she was so tired, not just physically but mentally exhausted.

Freid was so wildly different from Asturia; everything she had read about it couldn’t have prepared her for the culture shock. It wasn’t that Freid wasn’t a beautiful country, more so that her sisters and her father did not live here, and she couldn’t talk to any of them face-to-face whenever she wanted. And though it had already been the case for a month before her departure, the evenings no longer held the promise of seeing Allen.

How she had used to hold his hands and lean into his side, been hugged close by him. All their nervous kisses, his shaking gloved hands on her shoulders. The last night they had spent together. How passionate she had been with him, how reluctant, yet gentle and loving, he had been. She could no longer look back at it with only fondness, now that she knew, and that the Duke probably knew too. Despite that, he had been nothing but kind to her so far.

One particularly long day had passed, and she was sitting at the desk in her room, one hand holding a pen and her chin resting in the other, scrawling out a letter to Eries, when there was a knock at the door. She dropped her pen, sat up, wiped the tears gathering at the corners of her eyes with her handkerchief, then walked to the door.

The Duke stood there, stoic and looming.

“What is it?” she asked, clutching her handkerchief.

“May I request your company? There’s something important I need to tell you. Would you accompany me to the parlor?”

Normally she would refuse at this hour, and especially when she was in the midst of a letter to her sister, but she could tell he was either fed up with her refusals or very insistent that what he had to say mattered. So she said “yes” instead.

“I’m glad to hear that.” He offered his arm. She held onto it with her hand and matched his pace.

After the long hallway, they eventually came to the small room she had only been to a few times before. But this time was different. There was a table set up in the middle of the room, with two teacups and saucers and a matching teapot. White, with a pattern of violets, like Mother’s teacups. And a plate with cookies on it. Asturian lace cookies.

“Duke, is this…” She let go of his arm and walked over to the table. “My mother’s tea set?”

“I asked your sister to send it.” She looked over her shoulder at him. “I read a lot about Asturia before you came here, and so I thought an Asturian tea might help make you feel more at home.”

“I don’t know what to say.” She turned around to face him, clutching her heart with both hands. “This is too kind of you.”

He bowed his head slightly. “It was no great endeavor. Now, Marlene, why don’t you take a seat?”

She sat down across from him and watched as he poured the tea. She couldn’t wait to have a cookie. She picked one up, took a bite, and closed her eyes, and she was back in the kitchen of her childhood.

_Millerna, three, Mother holding onto her hands, helping her pour sugar out for the cookies, Eries ready with the level. Marlene mixed the wet ingredients together, humming an Asturian melody as she occasionally peeked at her sisters to make sure they weren’t spilling flour all over the floor._

“This is Mother’s recipe.”

The Duke nodded. “Your sisters made them.”

“I can tell. I think they have a little bit too much sugar in them.” Millerna always insisted on an extra pinch.

“Are they not to your liking?”

She shook her head. “No, these are my favorite cookies. They’re just a little sweeter than normal.”

The Duke said nothing, looking at her over the teacup he held. She met his gaze. He had a hardened face, sure, more rugged than Allen’s youthful countenance, but he had soft brown eyes, soft and warm. They made her feel at ease, like a cup of tea. A cup of tea with two sugars.

“You know, I could say the same about you.” She smirked. “You’re being awfully sweet yourself.”

The Duke’s stoic front broke for a moment, his cheeks flushing pink. Marlene couldn’t help it; she giggled. Then she remembered why he had asked to see her, and, sitting up in her chair, said, “What is it you have to tell me?”

Having regained his composure, the Duke said, “I have arranged with your father the King to have your things sent here and your villa reconstructed.”

Marlene gasped. “What? _All_ my things?” She thought about the shelves and shelves of books, the boxes of her paintings, all the winter blankets in the closet—she had only taken her dresses and jewelry with her, having assumed that a small portion of her things might be sent later and that her sisters could stake claim to whatever was left behind. But her _entire_ villa?

“It’s no matter. Anything I can do to make you feel at home here in Freid. You see, I can’t stand to see you so sad. I would be failing as a husband if I could not make my wife’s heart smile.”

“Duke…” Her heart felt full. How could he be so selfless? Especially when he knew about her past, how could he love her this much?

“Please, Marlene,” he said, reaching across the table to place his hand on hers, “we are husband and wife now. Call me Mahad.”

—

The days grew longer the more time Allen spent at Castelo. Evenings weren’t worth looking forward to like before, when he could always count on Marlene waiting for him in the garden outside her villa. Instead of going in town to drink and chat with his men, he would lock himself in his room with lukewarm tea and a bottle of mead, staring at the wall or writing letters he would never send.

Then one day, he received a package wrapped in brown paper from Palas. He set it on his bed and tore it open to find a tin and the folded letter inside. He was about to unfold it, but stopped for a moment, wondering who would have sent him something from Palas. There was no way it could have been anyone from the royal family, unless…

Unless this had come from Freid?

He sat on the edge of the bed and opened up the letter. A small card slid out of it and onto his lap. He picked it up and read,

_Loyal Sir Knight Allen Schezar:_

_My sister, Duchess Marlene of Freid, sent this to me with the understanding that I would know where you had been stationed. After consulting one of the Knights Caeli, I have concluded that you are stationed at Fort Castelo. If the package has not reached the specified recipient, please return it to the castle as quickly as possible._

_Sincerely,_

_Eries Aston, Second Princess of Asturia_

He set the card on the bed and started reading the letter. It had been so long since he had heard from her. She talked all about her life with the Duke (whom she called Mahad) and how kind he was. She was a mother now, and taking care of the baby was very stressful, but rewarding. Aside from a brief mention of her sisters, she said nothing about Asturia, and nothing about him, until the last page:

_gone on enough about my new life, I see it fit to refer to the old one for a moment. I find it quite difficult to keep up regular correspondence with anyone, even my sisters, because of the work that being a mother entails, but I want to tell you something about the baby._

His heart sped up. He knew what was coming. He had known, ever since he had escorted her out the door of the castle on her wedding day. She had complained about feeling nauseous and lightheaded, and he had thought back to a month ago, and been struck by the sudden realization.

_The baby’s eyes are blue. No one in my family has blue eyes. Mahad has brown eyes. Do you know what that means, Allen?_

Goosebumps rose on his arms. “I do,” he said under his breath. He continued reading:

_I know that you may not be able to leave your post and come to Freid for quite a while. Therefore, I have sent a facsimile of a drawing done by one of the court illustrators so that you can see what he looks like._

The rest of the letter was a goodbye which he didn’t read.

Heart beating in his throat, he sifted through the papers of the letter, lifting up the tin and Eries’ card. He got up from the bed and retraced his steps, but he couldn’t find the drawing. Maybe it was inside the tin? He opened it, but there was no paper inside, only… cookies, of all things. They looked like Asturian lace cookies. Were they the same ones she had used to…? He picked one up and took a bite.

_A light, crispy, buttery cookie. The evening sunset. Marlene’s violet eyes. A cup of tea and her gentle smile, the smell of flowers in the air._

Somewhere along the way, the picture must have fallen out. But even if he couldn’t see the boy for himself, he knew she was telling the truth. After all, she hadn’t sent him letters in so long that he believed her when she said she had fallen for the Duke. Still, she hadn’t forgotten the way it had been—how they had used to sit together in the garden, teacups on the folding table, a plate of cookies between them. And he hoped she hadn’t forgotten the way they had made each other feel.


End file.
